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#GoingRogue – September 19, 2016
Nathan swears and glances to Ehanis. "Shit, something's off," he mutters as he suppresses the urge to peer over the top.
Steve stumbles forward and gives a glare back over his shoulder. "You just keep it up, buddy. Go on, keep pushin' my buttons." he challenges. After a few steps, he sighs loudly, "Take me to Kell. I ain't lookin' for trouble, I just need to talk with the guy, alright?"
Ehanis sighs. "These people are truly planning something," she says. She gets on the comms. "Is this the point where we swoop in and get you out?"
The team of armed drell start to escort Steve past the perimiter and through the camp, heading for the main factory door, same as with Jason. Several glances go the armed stranger's way as they pass. All the drell the human would see carry weaponry, ranging from rifles to sidearms and makeshift melee weapons.
Steve continues to glare at those around him. "I ain't sure that's such a good idea yet. Wherever they're takin' me, it's prolly a better place to fight back from than in the middle of a crowd of people. Maybe they're just bein' cautious." he says. "Besides, it's lookin' like all of these folks are packin'. If shit goes sideways, we ain't gonna have as easy of a time on our hands as we thought..."
Ehanis nods. "Very well," she says. "We might forgo the sniper entirely if you give us about a minute's warning before you start shooting." She glances at Nathan. "If you need to start shooting, of course."
Nathan glowers at Ehanis as she speaks, but remains silent. He starts to shuffle around the dune, keeping below the sightline of the sniper.
Steve is escorted up to the big factory doors, which are half open now, and led up the stairs to the right, but only a single floor. They lead him into a T-shaped corridor, stopping by one of the few still intact-doors. Hinged, like the rest, but heavier, made of metal instead of plastic or wood. It is reluctant to open, but some force to the somewhat rusted metal, and it creaks open, revealing a relatively small and barren room. It
seems likely it was used for storage once, when the planet was still full of life, and the factory producing whatever unknown goods it was built for. One of the guards nudge Steve to get in the room. "Krenka all. Fat ill."
Steve looks over the room, glancing to the side at one of the guards. "Tick tock." he says to his teammates, giving the guard a grin through his visor, "They're tryin' to shove me into some lil' room, so I'm gonna go ahead and say your minute starts now. Make it a short minute, cuz hell is gonna have to freeze over before I go in this thing." He tests the bindings of his hands, what they're made of and whether or not a little biotic
juice might help him break them. "You don't wanna do this, buddy." he says to the guard at his side. "Trust me on this. You're about to unwrap a whole lot of ugly."
Nathan snaps his gaze to Ehanis, giving her a warning look. "No! No, we can still resolve this amicably," he says, though the doubt is clear.
One of the guards, a muscular drell wearing what seems to be scavenged riot armor, shoves Steve into the room when he doesn't move on his own. The human would find that the ties are rope, certainly enough to hold an average humanoid, but it is doubtful it could stand up to a biotic. The rest of the five-man team are still there in the corridor as well, waiting.
Ehanis stares right back at Nathan, although not very visible through her helmet visor. "They think they have the upper hand, and they take advantage," she says, over comms, "That's how things work out here. I say we press what little we have left of it before it vanishes."
Steve stumbles partway into the room, but instantly turns around and steps into the doorway to block it, unwilling to make it easy for them to lock him inside as he sizes up the threats immediately around him. "Last warning, pal. I ain't gonna say it again. You don't want to do this!" he warns. "You're gonna wanna step the fuck back right now and let me outta here. Otherwise-... Well, ya see this big ol' sack of shit right over
here...?" he nods to the muscular drell as a soft blue glow begins to surround him, "I'm about to turn this fucker inside out." He gives a soft chuckle as he looks over the others, "Then? I'm gonna kill each and every one of you. And that ain't really good for nobody, right? Cuz then I'm gonna have to start killin' all these other folks, cuz I doubt they're gonna be too happy. But we can still avoid all of that if ya'll just
Nathan punches his fist into the sand, swearing. "Fuck! No harming the families," he hisses to Ehanis and Steve, tensing himself up and preparing to take down the tower.
The muscular drell stares down at the strange glow, shouting out "Fo-... fot in fin?! Fat tha fio!". The others all raise their weapons, two of them on either side of the door as they point the rifles at Steve. One of them calls out, likely for Steve to stop what he's doing, by the tone of it. "Fen! Fen fot rhin fen!"
Ehanis frowns. "I'm moving in," she says, over comms. "Once you get the tower down, target vehicles and structural weaknesses on the walls." She doesn't draw her weapons as she walks around the dune and starts towards the compound at a brisk pace.
Steve gives a soft sigh. "I ain't too sure how long that was, but your minute is up, folks." he says, twisting his wrists with a little extra biotic 'ooomph' to go with it. His right hand sweeps around to the front of his body, expelling more biotic energy as he attempts to throw the two on his right backwards. It's an imprecise, but powerful attempt at a throw. Hopefully it should be enough at such close quarters. He uses the
continued momentum of his right hand to try and slam the open area between his thumb and index finger into the muscular drell's throat.
Nathan slams a fist into the sand again as he pops over the dune, the HUD already calculating the trajectory on the tower. "I'm sorry..." his finger hovers over the trigger, not expecting this to all go so tits up so quickly. There has to be something, something he can do to stop this. He looks down to the dufflebags and back to the compound.
As soon as Ehanis comes into view a group of five start to assemble near the fence, waiting for her to approach much like Steve. Inside the factory, two of the guards are hurled down the corridor violently, into the T-shaped intersection. One of them goes immobile, a crack as his head hits the wall, but the other starts to struggle back on his feet. The muscular one's shouting is silenced as he's struck in the throat and staggers
back. The two still-standing guards let out surprised shouts at the alien's telekinetic abilities, one of them dashing for the door they came from while the other opens fire with his antique automatic rifle, shots striking both Steve and the bulkier guard, gunfire ringing loud in the confined space of the corridor. Nathan would find that in the middle of his hesitation a high-powered shot strikes his shields, enough to bring them down
to half-strength. Another follows a split-second after. There is no loud crack of powder-based firearms, but instead the zip of a more modern rifle.
Ehanis keeps approaching them, not drawing her weapons yet. "I see five of them ready to greet me," she says. "Should I take them out?"
Steve brings his right arm across as his shields flicker from the ancient rifle fire and grabs for the barrel. If successful, he would jerk the rifle to the side and step in, slamming a hard headbutt into the center of the drell's face while attempting to wrench the old rifle free to take.
Nathan immediately ducks back behind the dune as his shield deplete, spitting out curses. He sits behind cover as he waits for his shields to recharge, his mind racing. Why did he agree to this, why, why why?! He grits his teeth, slapping his hand against his helmet. "Fuck...".
The drell guard is knocked out cold by the headbutt, slumping to the floor and offering no resistance to the grabbing of the old rifle. The muscular drell is bleeding badly from the gunshots he took, but still finds the strength to slam the butt of his rifle against Steve's back hard with a loud cry. Behind him one of the two thrown guards has gotten back on his feet and readied his rifle. The one that ran is out of sight, and it's
not long before commotion can be heard from the rest of the factory, shouting and running. Outside, a shot strikes the sand dune just as Nathan ducks down, kicking up sand that showers over the lone human. Meanwhile, the guards waiting for Ehanis open fire without hesitation, a wall of lead from the combined fire of five assault rifles heading Ehanis' way. Another group can be seen running from the camp to join them, taking cover
behind the barricades that surround the compound. It's not long before a loud alarm starts blaring from somewhere on the roof of the factory. Everyone is moving about in a hurry now.
Ehanis draws her Locust. She keeps walking forward, and hopes her shields hold while she sends bursts of Locust fire towards the assembled guards. She is aiming for center of mass.
Steve stumbles forward as the rifle butt makes contact with his armor. He swings around, rifle raised. "I warned you, you dumb motherfuckers!" he taunts. Grip? Check. Stock? Check. Trigger? Check. One gun is just as good as another. He squeezes down the trigger, spraying rounds at the large drell, aiming for any exposed areas before dropping to a knee to change heights and sweeping his fire across to the drell that survived his
Nathan mumbles something along the lines of a prayer just as his shields recharge. He pops over the top of the dune and fires his launcher. WHUMP. The grenade soars through the air towards the tower, just as he ducks behind the dune again.
The guards that are still in the open quickly make a break for cover once the first one falls to Ehanis' fire. Their combined fire is steadily eating away at her shields as she approaches, even as a second one goes down. The rest make it behind the concrete, keeping up the fire. There are worried shouts as she doesn't go down immediately. Another shot strikes Nathan as he pops out, but after the grenade launches it stops. There is
silence. And... more silence. The explosion comes, but it is later, more distant than it should be. Another sniper round hits the dune, showering sand all over. In the factory, both drell go down to Steve's sudden volley of gunfire, but he gets no respite as a whole group has gathered by the doorway behind him. One charges right in, swinging a home-made sword at the human. Behind him others are waiting for a shot at the strange alien,
most of them carrying crude melee weapons as well - swords, spiked clubs, shivs. They wear an assortment of metal armor plating loosely strapped on, shoulders and bracers covered in spikes.
Ehanis brings up a personal biotic barrier to help her take more fire as she approaches. "Kell," she shouts while quickly reloading, hoping they reconsider fighting while they still think her invulnerable. She casts a glance or two to see where her best option for cover is, and she resumes firing in bursts towards drell firing at her.
Steve turns to look towards the group gathered behind him. "Ah fuck... I hope ya'll are havin' a better time out there than I am!" he mutters as he lifts the rifle in an attempt at blocking the incoming sword strike. If successful, he would aim a kick at the drell's stomach in an attempt at pushing him back and then open fire on the hallway with whatever rounds he may have left in the rifle.
Nathan blinks. Did... did he miss? Was his HUD acting up? He sighs and sits against the sand, waiting for the shields to recharge again. He glances to the dufflebags, reaching across and pulling the fabric back to peer at the weapons. "We shouldn't have done this," he says over comms. "We're fucking idiots, we shouldn't have done this." He knows they've gone past the
point of no return with Kell's people, but a small part of him still clings to the belief that they could buy their freedom and safety with these weapons.
There is no real cover at all within reach for Ehanis. The ground outside the fence is flat and barren. She'd have to either get through the fence and up to the cover that the drell she is fighting are using, or fall back to the dunes. The swordsman is pushed back, and then shot in the shoulder, but Steve's rifle clicks empty, and the drell swings again, even as his face contorts in pain. One of the others manage to get in next to
him, and jabs a short blade at Steve's belly while laughing enthusiastically. His face is covered in red warpaint, and his eyes are wild.
Steve hops back to dodge the sword-drell's attack, tossing his empty rifle at the drell in the process in an attempt at pushing him off-balance. Another blue shimmer begins to form around him as he attempts to get his gauntlet down in time to intercept the short blade's trajectory. "Well if it wasn't obvious Kell's people didn't have good intentions before, it sure as shit is now!" he grunts over comms amidsts the action as he tries
to gauge the distance between himself and the muscular drell's rifle to set up his next plan of attack.
Ehanis frowns, and starts backpedaling; though she still keeps her fire up. "Ten, send a grenade over here," she asks over comms. "The barricade just inside the gate." She does alter her direction to be out of Nathan's line of fire.
Nathan sighs. Well, they're here now... deal with the consequences later. His shields recharge and he pops over the top of the dune, bracing himself for another sniper shot. He aims the launcher and fires, the WHUMP of the weapon bringing a certain degree of calm to him. The grenade soars towards Ehanis' target as he ducks down, checking his ammo. One frag in the
The sword-carrying drell misses, hitting the wall and stumbling, his injury starting to catch up to him. The other one's laughter stops as the knife is slammed right out of his hand. He yanks the sword away from his comrade and swings repeatedly at Steve. Behind him, and the two other blade-wielders, a more organized response seems to be forming. Rifle-carrying drell, and one in heavy metal armor carrying a large shield. The assault
rifle is on the floor, right behind Steve, under the body of its owner. Outside, Nathan's grenade hits the concrete barricades, sending chunks flying and kicking up a cloud of dust as several drell go down, but the fire on Ehanis continues from those outside the cloud of dust, and her shields are likely to give in any moment. A sniper shot strikes Nathan as he pops out, but only the one before he's back in cover. He might spot a quick
glimpse of vehicles being readied and crewed at the opposite end of the compound, and more guards running out of the shantytown at the base of the factory. After his grenade it's not long before gunfire starts coming his way from the rooftop of the building in an attempt to supress him. The alarm continues to blare loudly.
Ehanis sighs. "That didn't do what I hoped," she says over comms. "I'm pulling back." She turns around and starts running towards the cover of another dune about twenty meters from Nathan's position, using her biotics to give the shields some more longevity.
Steve leans his head back as a few of the drell's sword swipes narrowly miss him, the adreneline of the moment forcing Steve to attempt dodging before he realizes the obvious: He's an armored fucking tank compared to these people. He slams his head forward, right into the drell's hand as he attempts another swipe, then ducks low, attempting to slam a biotically-charged fist into the crazed drell's midsection and send him back down
Nathan ducks his head as the fire peppers against the dune. He growls and swaps his loadout, shouldering his rifle. He fires blindly over the dune. "Steve, get the fuck outta there. We're leaving," he barks. "I don't care how, just do it!"
More shots strike Ehanis' barrier, but it holds until she can make it over the dune. Shots pepper the sand around Nathan, a few pinging off his shields upon making it through the sand. In the building, the crazed drell's hand is bashed back by Steve's headbutt, but he manages to keep his grip of the sword. Not that it matters as he's biotically punched across the hallway, right into the two others behind him, all of them collapsing.
The two unharmed ones struggle to get back to their feet, shoving aside the one that just had most of his internal organs crushed. A rifle is raised by one of the drell outside in the stairwell, semi-automatic shots from the antique wooden weapon ringing out as they strike Steve's shields to little effect.
Ehanis remains behind cover while she waits for her shields to recharge. She does reload her almost empty clip. "I'm in cover," she reports. "Tell me when you're ten seconds out, and I'll make another push to keep their guns off the door."
Steve raises the rifle as a dull pain begins to manifest in the side of his head. He blinks hard, barely even recognizing his own actions as he shoulders the rifle and squeezes the trigger, sending a few rounds towards the disarmed, stumbling drell's head. He gains tunnel vision as he focuses on those down the hall from him, only snapping out of it as Nathan's voice chirps over comms, intermingling with the fizzling of shields and
ancient gunfire. "Yeah. Right. I'll just ask 'em nicely to stop shootin' at me while I skip on out the front door." he responds as he opens fire on the crowd, hoping to put them down before they can regain their composure. "Not happenin'. These fuckers don't know who they're messin' with. Get your asses in here and help me show 'em!" he shouts, "Hell, they might as well be tossin' stones at me!"
The scrambling drell on the ground go down, but in the doorway the one with the large, bulky metal shield steps up front to take the bullets as Steve's gunfire heads that way. Another drell rifleman joins the first in firing over the shieldbearer's shoulders, this one with an automatic rifle. Constant cracks of gunfire hammer in the corridor, while shouting and sirens sound throughout the compound. A sudden explosion strikes the dune
Nathan is hiding behind, sending large amounts of sand flying and knocking the human all the way down the dune.
Ehanis groans. "It's not as easy as it sounds," she says. "They've got the hole in the fence locked down. Maybe if Ten can make a...." She sees the explosion and him being thrown back. "Ten?!"
Nathan barks into comms. "This isn't a fucking discussion, Steve, get out- ARGH!" Nathan is thrown forwards, twisting and thumping down the dune. He's quickly buried in sand, his head ringing and eyes spinning.
Steve realizes quite quickly that while his shields and armor are quite sturdy against their antique weapons, they're not infallible. He needs to bridge the gap while he still can and the shield wielder needs to go down. Fast. He lowers the rifle he's holding and grips it in one hand by the barrel as he begins to sprint down the hall the moment the newly-organized riflemen's bullets begin peppering his shields. As he nears the
crowd, a brief glow surrounds him as he bursts through the air, knees-first, right into the shield wielder. Thump, thump. The dull pounding in his head intensifies.
The drell with the shield is thrown back into the stairwell, slamming against the railing. The two riflemen are thrown off-balance as well, and they're clearly startled by his biotic powers. One of them starts running up the stairs while the other crawls backward and readies his rifle again, firing while still on the ground. The one with the shield seems completely out of it. The downstairs door is suddenly slammed open and a drell
wearing nothing but a pair of frayed cargo shorts steps in, hefting a large flamethrower and with a big grin across his face. He sends a wave of fire up the stairs at Steve, torching most of his allies in the process.
Nathan slowly picks himself up, shaking his head as he opens and closes his mouth like a fish out of water. "Mawp... maawp... mawwp." He continues to make the odd noises as his head rings. He staggers uncertainly on his feet, holding a hand to his helmet.
Steve's eyes go wide as he spots the flame dancing on the tip of the weapon leveled at him. Without hesitation, he swings into the doorway and against the doorframe, pressing flat up against it and looking away as he hopes the flames simply sweep past him. Should that be the case, he would then blindfire the remainder of his magazine down the stairs from the doorway.
Ehanis remains in cover, her shields almost recharged now. "Ten, do you think you can make a new gate?" she asks over comms. "Preferably close to a barricade they're not holding. Just tell me if you can, because I'd like to be halfway there before you launch it."
Nathan spins on his heel, gradually regaining his composure. He manages a response to Ehanis. "I'm not wasting my last shot on making a hole," he says, switching his weapons once again. He cycles his launcher and starts to stride up the hill. "Just get ready to run on my signal. Steve, you fucker, we're storming the gates."
Ehanis scoffs, but she doesn't object. "Copy," she says, drawing her weapon. She doesn't move yet, however.
Flame flows into the corridor, and liquid fuel splashes against the far wall, setting it ablaze. Smoke and cries of agony fill the air from the stairwell, and an overwhelming heat pushes at Steve. Behind the roaring of the flamethrower the cackling of the drell operator can be heard.
Steve leans further away from the doorway, attempting to gauge how much longer he can outlast the heat in his suit before deciding his next move. "Bout damn time!" he chirps over comms, "These sons of bitches are persistent!" Then, speaking loud enough to hopefully be heard by the flamethrower-drell- despite the obvious fact that he won't be able to understand him- Steve adds: "And as soon as I kill this motherfucker I'm takin'
Nathan pops over the dune, suddenly going balls to the wall as he sprints towards the gates. He fires one of his smokes a short distance off, yelling, "Move it, Ehanis!" as he storms towards the compound, slightly altering his movements to try and throw off some fire due to come his way.
Ehanis exits her cover through the other side to where she enters and hurries towards the gate, holding onto her weapon with both hands. There is a biotic shimmer surrounding her, as she's prepared to warp the first drell to show their face.
Both Nathan and Ehanis would find themselves peppered with gunfire as they start to charge, the sheer volume quickly starting to drain away their shields. The sniper misses Nathan due to his speed, which is fortunate, as a shot from the modern rifle would have left him unshielded to the more primitive weapons. At least two dozen drell are firing from the conrete barriers surrounding the compound, and there are yet more on the rooftop
above. The smoke obscures the two charging mercenaries for a little while, but shots keep hitting them as the drell fire blindly into the cloud. As they emerge from the smoke they find themselves just inside the fence, still almost 15 meters from the nearest concrete barricade. The drell at said barricade fires his automatic rifle wildly at them, and all the others adjust their aim as the mercenaries become visible once more. Their
shields will not hold, and the only cover available to them up ahead is face-to-face with their enemy. In the building the flamethrower keeps spewing fire towards the doorway, the heat inevitably forcing the human back. There are sounds of movement from the other end of the corridor.
Nathan holsters the M-100 mid sprint and draws his pistol. His knife slips from his gauntlet and into his hand. He charges towards the cover, resting his pistol arm across his knife arm, the blade pointed forwards. He's trusting in his shields and armour here as he fires his pistol at the nearest drell, his focus simply on closing the gap between he and cover.
Ehanis charges towards the cover as well, opening fire with her own weapon. She only stops firing for a second to begin arcing a warp field over the cover towards one of the drell behind it. It's not the most effective biotic ability considering how demanding it is, but it might cause a distraction.
Steve pushes off the wall, clutching the antique rifle in his hands as he retreats further into the hallway. As he nears the intersection, he shoulders the old weapon, preparing for any other attackers.
The concrete cover suddenly explodes as a rocket strikes it from up on the roof, sending chunks flying at Ehanis and Nathan and kicking up even more dust, obscuring vision all-around. The shockwave of the explosion would hit them with enough force to knock them back - and the drell behind the cover is completely obliterated. Gunfire continues to fly in their direction as their shields start to fail. The next cover is further away.
Twenty meters or so. Behind another concrete barricade further back a drell is setting up what looks to be a machinegun.
In the factory, the flame starts to go deeper into the corridor, its wielder presumably advancing. The heat is starting to become unbearable. The door at the end of the corridor to Steve's right bursts open and several drell armed with carbines run in, three of them opening fire at the same time.